Direct Drive Or V Drive

I am at buying a serious wakeboard boat down the track and one big question I have VDrive or Direct Drive. It seems that V drive is the ultimate but only because of the prices they go for ie. they cost more .
Is there really a huge difference between DD and VD
I am after Quality and Size of Wake most of all.
I know that there is more people space in a Vdrive from what I have seen but 4 is the optimum number I like to board with at a time
So as I don't need the people space is there any other reason I should buy a Vdrive over a Directdrive> ?????

V-drives do create a better wake than a D drive. You are aslo able to hide more ballast to increase wake size. D Drives have the motor in the way, even with only 4 people. I have a buddy who is a skier, and with just me and him in his D Drive, it is crouded because of the motor. For the best wake, you want a V drive.

I am going to have to debate Chris' point about V-Drive wakes being better that D-Drives.

Its all in the hull shape/size and weight placement. What we are trying to do here is push the boat down in the water at wakeboarding speeds. ie, displace more water for the best wake.

That being said, V-Drives have more weight in the back of the boat to start with (even have an extra gear box compared to a DD). I bet given the same hull you could create the same wake with a DD and V-Drive boat. Look at some of the Tige DD boats, great layouts, lots of space and a great wake. Some of the MBs are the sameway. On the Calabria Cal-Airs the rear locker is huge, you can drop a massive fat sac back there without loosing an inch of interior space...

Interior layout is an other matter, with a V-Drive is a more social seatting arrangement. I think it's really all preference and you pay a premium for a V-Drive.

CBrown, can you demo boats? Demo them with the number of people that you ride with, bring your gear, bring your ballast, drive the boats and ride behind them. That will help you make up your mind.

Sean, you bring up some interesting points, but my question would be do you think you can get the same wake without adding ballast to the D that you could witht he V without ballast?

Then there is the storage issue too. MOst D drives only have a small storage area in the back, while most V drives have much more storage potential back there.

The nice thing about a V-drive is you can hide all the ballast. In a DD you have to lay sacs all over the floor thus limiting peoples ability to move around. I have been in friends DD with sacs all over the floor and I can't wait to get out of the boat.

Check out Calabria's DD (Cal-Air or XTS). They have their gas tanks up front and the rear lockers are huge. I can fit a Landlock surfboard back there, use to put a fat sac in the back and wakeboard on top of it. Right not I have about 1400lbs of ballast potential in my boat, with no fat sacs. Not bad for a small DD boat.

Chris, to answer your question. If the hulls were identical between a DD and V Drive, I would guess that the V-Drive might porpoise and have a lot of bow rise in comparsion. Might be a bit of a washy wake. But, are there any identical DD and V-Drive hulls? Like the MC205 and 205V, are they the same hulls with just the engine conf. being different? Might be a moot question, I think that most of the V-Drives are different hulls and are designed to put out a nice unweighted wake. I not trying to start some DD vs V-Drive debate, I just think that a DD weighted correctly puts out a nice wake too.

Anyways, right now there are a ton of great boats out there. Demo demo demo, get a feel for the local dealer (how is their service...) and buy the boat that fits you.

(Message edited by magic on May 07, 2003)